In recent years, size reduction of information communication devices has been advanced. Accordingly, a one-chip IC has been needed to be mounted on the information communication device, since the one-chip IC realizes higher performance (multifunction), lower power consumption, and larger storage capacity by a single chip.
The improvements of performance and storage capacity of a chip are expected by miniaturization. However, it is necessary to improve the performance and the storage capacity more efficiently in the memory business where cost competition is severe.
Recently, a memory device having a three-dimensional stack structure (three-dimensional stack memory device) is proposed for dramatic improvement of performance and storage capacity of a memory chip. For example, nonvolatile memory devices such as ReRAM (Resistance Random Access Memory), PCRAM (Phase Change Memory), MRAM (Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory), and the like are proposed.
The three-dimensional stack memory device enables the storage capacity to increase without depending on miniaturization of memory cells by increasing number of lamination of the memory cells. The chip size is enlarged by increasing the number of lamination of the memory cells since the device is heightened. In order to satisfy both of the storage capacity and the chip size, the miniaturization of the memory cells becomes necessary after all.
A technique for the miniaturization is called the microfabrication technique. An optical lithography technique is an elemental technology of the microfabrication technique. The optical lithography technique has conquered possible miniaturization limits predicted in the past one after another, and plays the leading role in the semiconductor device manufacturing even now. However, due to the acceleration of miniaturization of a semiconductor device, a pattern pitch smaller than the minimum pattern pitch formable by the optical lithography technique is required to be formed.
Under these circumstances, as one of techniques satisfying both of the fine pattern formation and the mass production, attention is paid to imprint technique, which transfers a pattern of template onto a substrate.
The conventional optical lithography technique and imprint technique have developed by targeting a semiconductor device having a structure in which cells (elements) are arranged two-dimensionally in a plane (two-dimensional arrangement structure) such as a NAND flash memory. These techniques have not developed by targeting a semiconductor device having a device in which the two-dimensional arrangement structures are laminated (three-dimensional stack device) such as a PCRAM or the like.